Unit Four CFO Expands Call for Budget Tightening in Future Years

The chief financial officer for the Champaign School District is expanding on his warning of tough financial times ahead.

In February, Gene Logas told the Champaign School Board that they would have to trim the budget for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to adjust to recession-driven declines in state aid and sales tax revenue. On Monday night, he told board members that new data indicates that tax revenues may still be down in FY 2012. He says when that budget year approaches, the district should look at repeating something it last did in 2005.

"The working cash bonds that we issued several years ago are completely paid off by the time we get to 2011-2012," said Logas. "I think we'd have to look at the possibility of issuing some working cash bonds".

The Unit four school board could approve the bonds for FY 2012 without a referendum. But Logas says the district should seek public direction before it works out the three million dollar budget cut he's recommending for the FY 2011 budget.